Of course I’d told him I’d call Winter at ten.
“Now?” I looked at my watch. It was only 9:42 a.m.
“Go on, his number’s right here,” he said, pointing to Winter Atkin’s details on the computer. He must have pulled them up because I hadn’t...
Had I really been that distracted?
“I don’t like this feeling,” I said.
“I know,” he said gently. Then he used his boss voice. “Call him now, please. We have clients waiting, and the Pauls will be here soon.”
Right. Yes. Work.
I had work to do.
Call Winter.
He’s just another client. No different from any other.
Except he was.
He liked poetry, and he knew the works of HarukiMurakami. He’d said it was a favorite, and I had to wonder what other books he liked.
And he was cute. He was shorter than me by at least two inches, had short brown wavy hair, bright brown eyes—when he wasn’t crying—and a gentle smile.
I had to call him.
My phone suddenly weighed ten pounds, my tummy twisted, and I felt both hot and cold.
Dad’s voice welcoming a client into his examination room spurred me into action. He needed my help at ten, so I had to do this now. I had a job to do, so I entered Winter’s number into my phone and hit Call.
He answered on the second ring, and it sounded like he dropped the phone. There was a clunk and muffled sound, then a bright, “Hello, Winter Atkins speaking.”
I froze.
“Hello?”
I blinked, my mouth suddenly dry. “Ah, yes,” I said. Then I had to clear my throat. “Winter, this is Deacon Clark. Deacon, from Hartbridge Veterinary Clinic.”
“Oh, Deacon,” he said. Then it sounded as if he’d fumbled something again, he mumbled again, and this was clearly not a good time.
“I can call back,” I said, knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to. “Or my dad can.”
“No, no,” he said. “It’s fine. I’m just trying to feed Merry, and Bright is a hungry little hippo. Let me just put him back into the basket.”
There was a muffled sound, then he was back. “Okay, that’s better. How can one little kitten be such a bully to his brother? Here you go, Merry... That’s better... Good boy.”
I was smiling, my tummy ache suddenly all but gone.
“Sorry, Deacon,” he added. “What can I do for you? Is everything okay? Did I forget to pay for something?”
“No,” I replied. I could see his account was paid in full. “I was just calling to follow up on the kittens, to see how they were doing, and to ask if you had any questions.”
“Well, I think they’re okay. Eating well. Bright is a big bully and poor little Merry gets trampled all over. Me, on the other hand, slept for a total of two hours. How do parents do this? It’s been one night.” He sighed. “Ignore me. I’m just being dramatic. Aww, little Merry finished his bottle. Give me one second.”
It was quiet for a bit, then he was back again. “I appreciate you calling. I do have some questions, but I just received my first delivery of books and I need to get them entered into my computer system, and things are hectic here right now. Can I call you back, maybe later tonight?”
“Are you at the bookstore now?”
